Shadow Scholar Syndicate: CC 2017--Day One Recap

Your “Syndicate Hangover” is proudly presented by “Renegade: Hammer & Sickle Imperial Stout”

Meh. It’s still probably better than your local “Hipster IPA”.

Day 1: Recap

Record—

Spread: 0-1

Straight up: 0-1-0

Hot Girl Standings

Country	Tally	Games Played
Russia	8	1
New Zealand	0	1

No Kiwis dared to make the trip. Can’t say I blame them. Hardly worth the risk of physical harm.

Let’s check out the lineups.

LINEUP—Russia--PROJECTED (4-5-1)

Fyodor Smolov

Aleksandr Samedov Aleksandr Golovin

Yuri Zhirkov Denis Glushakov

Alexsei Miranchuk

F. Kudryashov V. Vasin I. Smolnikov D. Kombarov

Igor Akinfeev

LINEUP—Russia--ACTUAL (5-3-2)

Dmitry Poloz Fyodor Smolov

Alexsandr Golovin Aleksandr Yerokhin

Denis Glushakov

Yuri Zhirkov Alexsandr Samedov

F. Kudrayashov V. Vasin G. Dzhikiya

Igor Akinfeev

Interesting. Dropping Samedov and Zhirkov to fullback positions makes perfect sense. Glushakov as a “Flight Director” meets with my approval. Vasin is solid pivoting backup. Need to see much better work from Golovin and Yerokhin. Both goals were the direct result of New Zealand defensive errors.

LINEUP—New Zealand—PROJECTED (4-4-2)

Chris Wood Monty Patterson

Shane Smeltz Marco Rojas

Ryan Thomas Michael McGlinchey

Tommy Smith Storm Roux

S. Brotherton T. Tzimopoulos

Stefan Marinovic

LINEUP—New Zealand—ACTUAL (5-3-2)

Marco Rojas Chris Wood

Ryan Thomas Kosta Barbarouses

Michael McGlinchey

Deklan Wynne Kip Colvey

Michael Boxall A. Durante Tommy Smith

Stefan Marinovic

A clear attempt to counter a five-defender set with another one. Colvey could use some basic training in his role. Durante and Boxall looked lost all afternoon. Certainly appreciated the late work of McGlinchey, Thomas, and Wood. A 4-4-2 would work better.

Here are the grades.

GRADES—Russia (Match One)

Igor Akinfeev	A+
Alexsandr Samedov	A
Fyodor Smolov	A
Viktor Vasin	A
Fyodor Kudryashov	A-
Denis Glushakov	B+
Geori Dzhikaya	B
Dmitri Tarasov	B
Yuri Zhirkov	B-
Alexandr Yerokhin	C+
Alexsandr Bukharov	C+
Alexsandr Golovin	C
Dmitry Poloz	C

GRADES—New Zealand (Match One)

Stefan Marinovic	A
Marco Rojas	A
Ryan Thomas	A-
Tommy Smith	B+
Shane Smeltz	B
Chris Wood	B
Kosta Babarouses	B
Andrew Durante	C
Bill Tuiloma	C
Michael McGlinchey	C-
Kip Colvey	C-
Monty Patterson	C-
Deklan Wynne	D
Michael Boxall	F

Before getting to the Mailbag, let it be known that I found nothing unusual about Putin’s Pre-game Address. It’s common practice for national heads-of-state to broadcast a few perfunctory remarks prior to the initial kickoff of event hosted by their country. Merkel took advantage of the moment in 2006. Zuma addressed the crowd back in 2010. Rouseff had the opportunity to say a few words both in 2013 and 2014. The elevated podium gave one something of an awkward feel, but one shouldn’t consider it controversial. Business as usual.

Image result for Putin's confederations cup speech

Let’s be clear about what Russia has done and what it hasn’t.

To begin with, your friendly bookie doesn’t accuse Putin of directly trying to interfere in the U.S. Presidential Election. Secondly, I reject the idea that there was some sort of collusion between the Trump Team and a few rogue hackers. Finally, the notion that the efforts of the “Fancy Bears” somehow tipped the U.S. Election cannot be accepted.

I merely find Putin and his brownnosing sycophants guilty of deliberately trying to be shallow manipulative fucktards. I see that plainly in their dealings with both of my countries. Reason enough to root against them. ; )

“Riffs of the Day”—Day One